HONDA CLASSIC

March 19, 2021

Shane Lowry

PGA National Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Coming home in 31, 66, but let's start with that chip in on the last, which from our view looked absolutely textbook.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I said let's go up there and chip this one in. But I had a bit of a mud ball on my second shot so I was trying to be a little bit clever and obviously not hit in the water and try and leave myself in a good spot, so I was kind of aiming over there toward that bunker and, yeah, it was a straightforward enough chip. I was nice and aggressive with it and got it to the hole and thankfully it went in and it puts me in a great position going into the weekend.

Q. What's your assessment of your play?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I just kind of, you know, just kind of coming on from last week, a good week, a bit of confidence. Coming out here, a course I like playing, I knew it was going to be tough, so, yeah, I just kind of, although the scoring is not playing as tough as it normally does, but I just kind of, a little bit of confidence goes a long way with me. And I didn't drive the ball great yesterday but every other part of my game was pretty good and I felt like I drove it a little bit better today and hopefully I can, I think there's a, like a northerly wind coming in the weekend, so it will be interesting out there, but I'm looking forward to it.

Q. When you were an amateur you won the Irish Open in those horrendous conditions. I remember that was an incredible moment to watch. How much do you relish a potentially tough day on Saturday?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, it's the reason I play this tournament is because it generally plays so tough. Yeah, I like to come down here and grind it out for a few days and hopefully see myself a top of the leaderboard. I've shot some decent scores here in the past, I've not put four really good ones together, so I'm just hoping I can do that over the weekend. But it's going to be tough, it's going to take a lot of patience, a lot of skill, and a lot of good golf, and hopefully I have it all.

Q. Finally, there's a little chat on the broadcast because there were three Open champions in the same group. What may have happened to the Claret Jug whilst it was in your possession, you've had it for two years. Any good stories you would like to share with us about where it's been and what it's done?

SHANE LOWRY: What time is it back home? I'm not sure if I'm able to share some of those stories. But, look, obviously I'm very fortunate, I feel very fortunate to have won the Open Championship and to have the Claret Jug for couple years is obviously pretty nice. Look, I would prefer if there was no COVID and things were normal and we got to play it last year, but obviously it's nice to have the Claret Jug. And we didn't talk about it at all, but Phil always asked me about it, and it's just nice to be a part of such a kind of a elite group of players that have their name on that trophy. Like I said, I feel very fortunate to have done it and I'm sure the places I've brought it are quite different than the places someone like Zach has brought it, so, yeah.

Q. The eagle on 18. Take us through it and how much of a boost is it to get that at the end of the round?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, because, look, even though it's quite an intimidating hole, 17 was playing quite easy today. It was a new wedge and I made bogey there which was disappointing. And I wanted to birdie the last to get it back and shoot 67, but it's nice to kind of chip-in for eagle. I left myself in a nice spot. I said walking up 18, I said, let's go and chip this one in and thankfully I did.

Q. What have you found with your game the last two weeks, top-10 at THE PLAYERS, you're playing well here through 36 holes, what have you found?

SHANE LOWRY: I'm just putting well or nicely, better than I have been. I'm holing out. I have a little bit of confidence. I'm seeing my lines, I'm seeing the ball going in. And I changed my grip before THE PLAYERS and it just kind of felt comfortable and it's been working the last couple of weeks and I just kind of, not that I'm hopeful because I'm confident that I'm able to do it, but hopefully it just keeps going, hopefully I've got something kind of -- because I don't feel like I'm fully have it all down yet, so it's something that I feel like can I work on going forward and something like I feel like can I improve on. I'm actually quite excited about it because I do feel like if I can become a more consistent putter, that my, I can become a more consistent golfer and have higher finishes and maybe win a couple more times and stuff like that. So it's exciting, yeah.

Q. You say you changed your grip. What did you have before?

SHANE LOWRY: I've been left hand low my whole career and I've gone right hand low the last couple of weeks. So it's a big change to make, but over the watchful eye of my coach, I did it and it's working, but, look, who knows, you don't know with this game. I just kind of -- I'm happy with what I shot today, I need to regroup tonight now, go have some dinner, chill out in the morning, and come out here and shoot the best score I can tomorrow and hopefully it's a good one.

Q. Was it a feel thing or a technical thing?

SHANE LOWRY: Just a feel thing. So technically I'm probably better, you know, if you go on all these machines and stuff, I'm probably better left hand low in my stroke, but right hand low I can putt with a bit more feel and a bit more visualization and that just makes it kind of easier for me. Like, I'm a good chipper of the ball, and it was frustrating me because I'm chipping the ball so well at the minute that I couldn't start the ball on line from six feet. And I just couldn't get my head around it. So I said to my coach, I said if I can chip it off a down slope off a tight lie to a tight pin close, how can I not start a 6-footer on line. So that's why I went that way and just started putting that way and, look, it's worked so far, but we'll see.

Q. What are you most looking forward to tomorrow?

SHANE LOWRY: I think it's going to be tougher conditions tomorrow, so, yeah, I'm looking forward to that. It's going to be tough -- look, this golf course is funny, like it's, you play great, you shoot a great score, but if your game's off a little bit it can really jump up and bite you. So there's quite a few disasters waiting to happen out there and you just need to hit your bad shots at the right time and manage your way around the golf course well. And that's what I like, I like kind of having to be kind of focused where your misses are and it's not all just kind of standing up, with a perfect number, hitting it straight at the flag. You really need to manage your way around this golf course, so that's what I'm looking forward over the weekend.